The world in Jesus' day was basically split between people who didn't know
the Lord and those who knew the Lord, but who had made the Law a point of
worship that excluded most of God's love and grace.

In other words, they looked like they were holy, but inside they were empty
shells.

We have people who fall into these two groups today.

But Jesus did everything He could to show us the proper blend, and the true
meaning and intent of the Word.

In order to show how this all fits together, let's focus our attention upon
the Sabbath.

First, let's see how God established the Sabbath day.

Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 2:1-3.

1. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts.

2. And by the seventh day God completed His work which He had done; and He
rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

3. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He
rested from all His work which God had created and made.

God blessed and sanctified the seventh day.

He made it holy.

He set the seventh day apart as a time of resting and for enjoying all the
good He had made.

But it was better than good; it was very good, as we are told in Genesis
1:31.

31. And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there
was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

This passage says “behold” or: Take notice of all that I have made.

Thus, He set apart one day in seven for all of us to reflect upon not only
what He had done, but also upon all that we
have done the previous six days, as well as to get a proper perspective on
things as they should be.

And all things should be very good – that is, if they are of God.

Now, keeping all this in mind, let's turn to Exodus 20:8-11, and listen to
part of the Ten Commandments.

8. "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy."

It is our duty to keep the sabbath day holy.

It is our duty to keep it sanctified.

So, how do we do this?

In part, we are told in the next three verses.

9. "Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

10. but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall
not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female
servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.

11. "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all
that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the
sabbath day and made it holy."

We are not to engage in any of our weekday type of work. We are to rest.

But what kind of rest?

We'll have to go on a little further to get that answer.

But before we go on, note that in verse 10 we are told that the seventh day
is a sabbath of the Lord our God.

It is not of our making, but of His making; so, we must follow His rules.

And in verse 11 we are reminded that the Lord blessed the sabbath day and
made it holy.

There is an interesting parallel to such holiness made by God, which is made
for our benefit.

Please turn with me back to Exodus 3:4-5, and note what happened when Moses
saw the burning bush.

4. When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the
midst of the bush, and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am."

5. Then He said, "Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet,
for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."

Now, just think for a minute. Would you want to walk with bare feet in
everything the soles of your shoes stepped upon?

I didn't think so!

There can be some pretty messy stuff out there that we have stepped in.

And this symbolizes the spiritual dirt that we walk in every day of our
lives.

A very similar thing also happened to Joshua. Let's take a look at Joshua
5:13-15.

13. Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes
and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in
his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you for us or for our
adversaries?"

14. And he said, "No, rather I indeed came now as captain of the host of the
Lord." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to
him, "What has my lord to say to his servant?"

15. And the captain of the Lord's host said to Joshua, "Remove your sandals
from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did
so.

Note the symbolism here.

Anyone can enter the holy place of the Lord our God with all of the dirt and
sins of the world upon them; but once they enter, they are to remove that which
is unholy.

To do otherwise is to show utter disrespect for the Lord and His holy place.

The Sabbath of the Lord is a holy place, or holy time, within each week.

It is a time and place where we are to remove that which has become soiled
during the week, and rest in the Lord, so that we would be better equipped to
face the next week.

And hopefully, we will be more careful of the things we “walk upon,” so that
each successive Sabbath will find us with less and less sin.

This is to bless the Sabbath; this is to sanctify the Sabbath; this is to
keep it holy.

Do you remember what happened when Jesus died upon the cross (Mark 15:38)?

38. And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

The power of the Lord removed the separation of the common people from the
holy of holies. Now every repentant person could enter into the throne of grace.

How much more does God have to do to show us that He loves us?

Yet, most people still won't listen; and they try to hinder others from
entering the Sabbath rest.

In John 9:13-16, note what we are told took place following the time when
Jesus restored the sight of a blind man.

13. They brought to the Pharisees him who was formerly blind.

14. Now it was a Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his
eyes.

15. Again, therefore, the Pharisees also were asking him how he received his
sight. And he said to them, "He applied clay to my eyes, and I washed, and I
see."

16. Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, "This man is not from God,
because He does not keep the Sabbath." But others were saying, "How can a man
who is a sinner perform such signs?" And there was a division among them.

The Pharisees knew in their heart that such a sign was indeed from heaven.

We are told in Matthew 12:5 that the Pharisees knew that:

5. "Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the
temple break the Sabbath, and are innocent?"

Jesus was indeed acting in this capacity.

But they had their own personal agenda, and used the excuse of the Sabbath to
cover their evil intent.

They cared nothing for the Lord or His Sabbath. All they cared about was
their own position.

Instead of blessing the Sabbath, they cursed it.

Instead of praising the Lord for the miracle, they blasphemed.

Instead of keeping the Sabbath holy, they profaned it by not removing their
sin when they entered it.

But there were some who saw through all their evilness to the truth.

Jesus did the kinds of things we are all to do on the Sabbath.

Do these loving and compassionate things yourselves.

Enter this Sabbath rest, and do what ever you can to help others enter,
whether they be other human beings or other animals.

Don't worry about those whose heart is set upon evil, and who try to hinder
the truth – you do what you know is right.